Sunday, January 10, 2010

Los Angeles has many places to eat where the food is great but the history may be just as big of a draw or factor.

One day I took my two boys out. The day started with one goal ... French Dip sandwiches at Phillipes. Two lamb sandwiches, double dipped, one roast beef. Graham and I split so we each had one half of each. Potato salad, cole slaw, a jar of mustard to bring home, cheesecake, the house lemonade, a nine cent cup of house coffee, crumb cake. It was a great lunch at a very historical place.

Both of these french dip sandwich places go back to 1908. I do not know which was first. Phillipe's is a landmark in Los Angeles. Phillipe may be the first according to the story of how the first french dip sandwich was an accident that happened there and became a requested item.

Here are a few basic overall figures: 40% of unemployed have been out of work for two years or more. There are currently over 15 million people unemployed. Unemployment is still growing regardless of what government reports may attempt to indicate on rare occasion. Many economic experts talk of a double dip recession. Big business is winning: Cutting expenses by going global while cutting payroll, full time employment, and reducing rate of pay and benefits. Wall Street shows the profit growth of business in general. Individuals who are employed are NOT the winners: lower pay and reduced benefits.

Nearly 2 million Americans have dropped out of the work force since last May — and if they hadn't, the unemployment rate would have risen a lot more dramatically over the last several months.

Either way, joblessness is quite high. The Labor Department said Friday the unemployment rate remained at 10 percent last month, the same as in November and just below the 10.1 percent rate reached in October. The October figure, which was revised down from 10.2 percent, was the highest in 26 years.

Employers cut 85,000 jobs last month, but hiring and firing isn't the only thing that affects the unemployment rate. Also important is the overall size of the labor force, which is the number of people working and actively looking for work.

The unemployed who aren't searching for jobs — either because they're discouraged or because they're returning to school or caring for a family member, among other reasons — aren't included in the labor force and aren't counted in the unemployment rate.

Since May, the labor force has dropped to 153.1 million from nearly 155 million, a 1.2 percent decline. More than 660,000 people exited in December, the most in any single month in 14 years.

Had all those people remained in the work force and hunted for jobs, the December unemployment rate would have been 11 percent instead.

What worries economists is that many of those people are likely to resume job hunting if the economy continues to pick up. That could boost the jobless rate to 10.5 percent or higher, even if the economy improves and employers start hiring again.

Here, by the numbers, are some more details you can find deep in the employment report.

FROM RED TO BLACK AND BACK AGAIN

85,000: The net total of jobs lost in December
4,000: The net total of jobs gained in November, the first gain in 23 months
127,000: The net total of jobs lost in October
691,000: Average number of jobs lost each month in the first quarter of 2009
69,000: Average number lost each month in the fourth quarter
7.2 million: Total decline in U.S. payrolls since recession began in December 2007
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MISERY LOVES COMPANY

15.3 million: People unemployed in December 2009, down from a record 15.6 million in June
12.1 million: People unemployed in December 1982, the record before the latest recession
10 percent: Unemployment rate in December 2009
10.1 percent: Unemployment rate in October, revised down from 10.2
4.9 percent: Unemployment rate in December 2007, when the recession began
10.8 percent: Unemployment rate in December 1982, the highest since World War II
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TOUGH TIMES FOR THE YOUNGEST

27.1 percent: Unemployment rate for teenagers in December
15.6 percent: Unemployment rate for those 20 to 24 years old
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LONG-TERM JOBLESSNESS

39.8 percent: Proportion of unemployed who've been out of work six months or longer, a record
29.1 weeks: Average length of unemployment in December, also a record
6.1 million: Number of people unemployed for six months or longer, also a record
1.3 million: Number unemployed for that long in December 2007, when the recession began
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9.2 million: Number of part-time workers who would have preferred full-time work last month
2.5 million: People without jobs who want to work but have stopped looking
17.3 percent: "Underemployment" rate in December if you include the above two categories
17.4 percent: Underemployment rate in October, the highest in records dating to 1994
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About Me

I started this blog on December 13, 2009 to raise awareness on the homeless situation which is growing due to the current economic situation in this country. Two priorities at this period in my life are helping the homeless on the streets of Los Angeles and helping musicians sound better one amp at a time.

Who am I?

It is said that a picture is speaks a thousand words. Here are over three thousand random photos in a slide show. This is what I do, who I know, where I go.

An emotionally draining slideshow which mixes art, whimsy, low production values, a general lack of composition, sexual tension, nausea and the feeling of foolishness you have if you can watch the entire show from beginning to end.

What could be better than an album of nothing but low resolution shots taken with my cellphone (and a few from friends cellphones as well) ... and then, take these low resolution photos and upload them in real time to facebook where the quality and size is reduced even more?

Why I do what I do

To the folks who ask why I do what I do.

For many decades I worked in the corporate sector for very large companies. I worked many hours each week.

On some occasions I actually felt as if I made a change in a life. I could help somebody in their career. I could teach somebody something technical. Those sorts of things.

40-60 hours a week or more was generally not all that rewarding other than the friends I made along the way and the occasional change as I was able to make a difference.

I worked hard to make changes in my own life as most of us do. I made money to buy a house, raise a family. Family and friends are one side of our lives. The outside world is another.

I now have two main "jobs" each day. One is to help guitarists sound better, one amp at a time. I help folks in the music business and pass on what I have learned over decades walking this planet. I also try to help other people who are building their own career. That is one of the joys of being my age. You can help those on their path of building their own lives.

My second "job" is helping the homeless on the streets on Los Angeles. Five or ten hours on the street each week helping people makes more of a direct impact on more people than a month of work in my old life. Whether I feed people a snack, listen to what they have to say, give them a card from http://www.urm.org/ or walk them down to Union Rescue Mission I feel I am making life a little better for somebody.

In order to do something good one generally has to do something as in perform some sort of action. Los Angeles has the highest homeless population in the nation. Perhaps I feel as if I needed to do something.

Union Rescue Mission - What they do.

I talk a lot about Union Rescue Mission on this blog. I also talk a lot about them on facebook. I talk about them on my GAB website.

Many of my friends have become friends with Union Rescue Mission and members of their staff. I am sure many of you feel the same way I do about what they do and are a little bit better for knowing them.

There is a place on the URM website where there are a few videos. If you take a few minutes to look at this page and the videos you may learn a bit more about the work these folks do. http://www.urm.org/services/what-we-do.html

Saunders Stewart Models

Although I generally wear flannel and Levi 501s some seem to think I know a bit about fashion and take a decent photograph now and then. I am an owner/partner in a model agency ( www.saunders-stewart-models.com). We supply models to the music industry (music videos), spokesmodels, product models etc. If you would like to be considered for SSM representation (non-exclusive if you desire) please send an email to models@guitaramplifierblueprinting.com.

Continually changing shots of a few SSM models available for your projects

Blog Traffic - Total Post Reads

This blog was created in December 2009. Statistics were enabled on July 1, 2010. From July 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013 there were more than 12 million reads of this blog.

As of 9/14/2018 there has been 36,395,500 reads. There were 189,708 visitors last month, August 2018.

Posts are also seen on facebook, twitter, google buzz, blogger, digg it, atom and many other services that have opted to distribute my antics for reasons that are at times a mystery to me.

Thanks for following, thanks for reading and thank you for sending the link of this site to your friends.

Andy Bales and the staff of Union Rescue Mission, Jacqui Groseth, Alexander Cornejo II. Located in downtown Los Angeles, URM is the oldest and largest mission in the nation. The staff and entire organization at URM make me feel that my own small efforts to help the homeless have some degree of value. These folks serve over 3,000 meals a day (over a million meals a year) 365 days a year three meals a day. When I feel that the end goal seems to be like one pushing against the incoming tide and feel beaten down I think of Andy Bales and his staff and find a bit more drive to continue. Look at their website to see how many services these folks offer. www.urm.org